The present invention relates to sliding doors of the type commonly used as part of a shower or tub enclosure; and more particularly to multiple section shower/tub enclosure doors that are suspended from and slidable along an overhead track.
Tub and shower enclosures often have an opening that is closed with a pair of sliding doors. A common door assembly has a lower track mounted on the rim of the tub or shower pan and another track mounted directly overhead. Each door slides in a separate channel within the tracks and is able to slide past the other door. One of the drawbacks of this type of mechanism is that the lower track is an impediment to a bather entering and leaving the enclosure. The sharp edges of the lower track are undesirable to step upon and those edges also can scrape the feet of the bather. Thus, it is desirable to eliminate the use of a lower track.
However, the lower track provides several functions. Not only does it aid in guiding movement of the doors, but the lower track also restricts the doors from swinging inward and outward. Extreme inward or outward movement could dislodge the doors from the overhead track mechanism. Furthermore, the lower track provides a water barrier which directs water flowing against the doors into the tub or shower enclosure preventing water from flowing outward. Thus, eliminating the lower track of the door assembly also eliminates these beneficial functions provided by that track.